RJC

Took my 01 430 to my local Benz dealer in S Fl to repair my drivers window that would not drop down and go back up when the door is opened and closed. I asked the service advisor if its possible to just reprogram the window as I did not want to have the door panel taken off fearing rattles,broken plastic weather seal cuts etc. The advisor was kind enough to have a tech come up and talk with me and he said we can reprogram the window but the motor really shoud be replaced. I told him I was very concerned about the above mentioned things happening and he said don't worry nothing will happen and you can even watch me do it! I found this reassuring as normally customers don't go or are not invited to the service bays. Well as he started to remove the panel he had trouble taking off the door pull handle covering, he was using a plastic wedge shaped tool to do this and I noticed that he was becoming very impatient with this and was working way too fast and really prying and pulling etc without placing something between the tool and the panel. I could not beleive my eyes and I told him to slow down and even said haste makes waste and why not try... Well guess what it was too late he cut the door panel with the tool in 3 different places and proceeded to put a tear in the plastic weather seal about a foot long and another tear elsewhere! I said do you now see why I did not want this done. I said since this plastic protection film can tear if you're not carefull and a lot of door panel are removed for various reasons why don't you stock this piece? The response was they just don't. The dealer has offered to replace the entire door panel but I was told it comes in about 6 pieces that the dealer must assemlbe...that's scary! Now my drivers door window does go down when the door is opened but there is about a 3 - 5 second delay when it goes back up, my passenger door has a delay of about only a second.
I'm off to a leather repair shop to see if they can repair the damage and aviod the dealer trying to put the new panel together,yes I will give the dealer the bill. I know these things happen but I really tried to avoid this especially being present. Follow your hunches!

Angel_Dust

damn that sucks....good thing i don't ever watch the mechanics do work on my car....or else i wouldn't be able to sleep at night knowing the things they do to my baby....well....at least it's all covered under warranty....

this is exactly why after my warranty expires i'm gonna get a new ride....just can't trust MB reliability anymore....and i'm definitely not going to pay an arm and a leg just to remove some rattle in my car.....

pigman

I was more than a little bummed out when my car came back with massive scratches on my wheels from MB's pneumatic lug wrench. I would have figured MB mechanics would be a little more careful, but they're just like all other ones out there.

Just like Angel_Dust said, I'm not keeping my MB after the warrantee expires and as much as I like the new SL 55 that I put a deposit on, I don't think I'll drive it, except to the flip-it dealer.
: (

Ahmed

Maybe by being there watching the guys try to fix this problem, you made it worse!

Mechanics aren't usually use to having the owner stand there watching them work. I mean... I'm an engineer and when I try repairing something, the last thing I need is some paranoid fellow watching over me. I get really annoyed and it really affects my performance.

I've come to the conclusion that mechanics usually consider your lack of confidence in their work insulting to them and in some cases....and I say SOME CASES... they do a lowzy job on purpose!

I mean come on guys.... they do this day in and day out over and over again, cause you're not the only one with this problem. I had this problem with my CLK too, and I live 6000 miles from FL.

Just my opinion!

RJC

I can appreciate your point but in this case the mechanic asked me to come into the shop to watch him,I never even mentioned or suggested it to him.

RJC

RJC

Karl, in reply to your post below.
I think we may both be visiting the same dealership in Pompano Bch Fl. I really feel your pain and I don't blame you one bit for being hesitant having the headliner replaced. I decided to have the above mentioned door panel repaired by a company called Leather Tech for $70 to aviod the dealer screwing up the assembly of the new door panel. The repair came out about 85% perfect. The biggest problem I witnessed seemed to be the techs haste trying to get in as many jobs as possible which happened to be confirmed as a problem by my service advisor. I could only wonder how much money could be saved as well as eliminating much of the customer inconveniece by doing the job properly and carefully the first time and therefore avioding all the come backs. My service advisor said when we get surveyed and it comes back with poor rating it directly affects his pay not the techs,maybe the techs need to start having some financial responsiblity for thier work(sorry MBTech 208 I'm sure you posses a better work ethic.)

karl k

Collateral damage, caused by MB mechanics from the graduate school of
"Cinnabon" is a serious problem.

Here is my story of MB incompetency, which started last December. Three
service appointments so far, and more to follow:

1. Adjust sunroof because of squeaks.

COLLATERAL: Too much lubricant applied, now sunroof shade slides while
accelerating and decelerating.

2. Replace sunshade.

COLLATERAL: a) Sunroof out of adjustment, b) sunshade still slides, but now like
running a nail over glass/sandpaper, c) greasy fingermarks all over headliner and
sunshade.

3. I called MB Corporate. They suggested to call MB dealership's Service Director
to re-address the the problems:

a) Sunroof out of adjustment, b) sunshade still slides, but now like running a nail
over glass/sandpaper, c)greasy fingermarks all over light grey headliner and
sunshade.

4. Service Director states that the headliner needs replacement, because of filthy
mechanic's fingerprints on headliner which is light grey.

However, he took car to the mechanic shop director. He came back and asked to
give the detail shop a chance to clean up mechanic's mess.

5. When I got the call that the car is ready by service director, I was told that
three sets of eyes looked at it, and its perfect.

6. Before I picked up car, I asked to go over it with service director. I asked to
look at it in DAYLIGHT. Roof adjustments are fine, but the mechanics
tender-loving grease-prints still showed collateral/residual damage to headliner
and sunshade. All the rubbing from cleaning, also did additional damage to
headliner.

7. Service director said that a new headliner will be ordered in addition to
the second replacement sunshade.

I am concerned about collateral damage to the overhead
electrics/electronics when the headliner will be replaced, because of
previous unworkmanlike mechanic's preformance. (understatement!)

However, I was told by the MB service director, that it will be an easy
roofliner replacement job.

Well, we'll see what happens when the new headliner comes in.

Thursday it will be one week. I was told, that it takes one week to get it from
Germany...

...waiting for the call from MB service.

karl k

RJC -

Correct, except that I did not get the offer to visit the "certified MB tech" in ACTION!

It's so ironic, we all pay for this incompetence!

Despite many pleas and apologies from the "service advisor" that a survey rating his competence is in the mail, and NOT to let the sloppy/filthy mechanics performances influence his performance and my rating of him, - well I am NOT going to submit it to MB till it is repaired to my satisfaction. I asked this service advisor to personally check it out and call me back before I make the 80 mile roundtrip in the SUZUKI loaner. Well 45 minutes later I got the call from him. He drove the car PERSONALLY - he boasted - and everthing checks out.

That was chutzpah, gall to have me make the 80 mile roundtrip, because as stated in my previous post, that's how it checked out:

a) Sunroof out of adjustment, b) sunshade still slides, but now like running a nail over glass/sandpaper, c)greasy fingermarks all over light grey headliner and sunshade.

That's when I called MB Corporate...and the saga continues as stated earlier.

I paid $75,000 for the vehicle 6 months ago! MB service is NOT going to ruin it.

RJC

[QUOTE]Originally posted by karl k
[B]RJC -

Correct, except that I did not get the offer to visit the "certified MB tech" in ACTION!

Be glad you did not witness what I did...it made me sick to actually watch it happen

RJC

After cleaning my car today I decided to give the window/door panel area a real close look to see if there was any other problems...guess what I found a screw that was not tightened due to it being completely stripped because the tech used a power tool on very small screws that screw into delicate plastic, and a rubber seal that runs along the window base that was not installed properly which is now causing the window to shudder; the only way to fix it...off with the door panel again. These cars are highly engineered and designed to fit together a certain way...the right way! Back to the dealer again next week

CLK 320

Unfortunately, it seems all too easy to do things incorrectly. It probably does not help that the engineer designing the car was more concerned with ease of assembly on the production line than making it easy to disassemble, then reassemble a component.

RJC

That may or may not be the case but once I eye balled the window trim I could very easily see the correct way to install it. This was a classic case of haste and a lack of attention to detail which may be all to prevelant with many people doing many different jobs in all types of work.

karl k

RJC:
When is your appointment? Mine is scheduled for next week Wednesday for the roofliner and second sunshade replacement...

Ahmed

and i thought our dealers were bad!!!!!

i feel alot better about MB now!!!!!!

techbike

but I emphatize with Karl and RJC completely. I had a similar problem with my '02CLK55. Wheels and tires vibrating. After 3 tries, and a call to the #1 shop foreman, I was told this was a race-tuned suspension and high-performance wheels and tires, and that I will feel every little thing on the road. I went to an independent shop 60 miles away and got printouts from a Hunter GSP9700 wheel balancer (same machine the dealer has) and finally called the service manager. It showed an out-of-limits condition on 1 rear tire and that their balancing job on the other 3 were off by at least 1.5 oz. They agreed to take the 1 wheel in, informed me 10 minutes later that the tire was good, invited me into the shop to witness this procedure. Well, much to their amazement, and while I was watching, the machine showed a progressively worsening condition to an out-of-limits reading. The Hunter applies a road force to the spinning wheel and apparently, was warming up the tire, simulating on-road conditions. I got my wheel back after 4 days with a new tire on it. I haven't tried it as I switched to a 19" setup. I WILL write Montvale, NJ and cc the regional tech rep about this incident.

RJC

RJC:
When is your appointment? Mine is scheduled for next week Wednesday for the roofliner and second sunshade replacement... [/QUOTE]

I was thinking about going Monday in the afternoon to see if the illustrious technical experts could simply reposition my door panel without taking the whole thing off and possibly causing more problems!The dealership also ordered a new door panel which was suppposed to be in last Wed???so I may want to wait to see if it's finally arrived and if they can assemble the six seperate pieces of the door panels correctly into one. I know the apprehension you must be having about the headliner replacement but I beleive that other than the overhead lighting & sun roof & sos switches etc most of the motors/components are bolted to the roof so the headliner should be a relatively straight forward job. But that's what I was told about taking off a door panel! They have to be very carefull removing and re-installing the other pieces that are necessary to replace the headliner. I see that Mercedes has very carefully engineered its components to fit just about perfectly and as I stated in an above post if it's done correctly it will fit just right. The tech should also be instructed to wear those surgical type plastic gloves (clean plastic gloves!) while doing your job or any for that matter, especially when working with a light interior color. Sorry for the long post but buying a "Mercedes Benz" was to purchase a car as close to perfection as possible and have the dealership slowly ruin it makes me sick.

RJC

I haven't tried it as I switched to a 19" setup. I WILL write Montvale, NJ and cc the regional tech rep about this incident. [/B][/QUOTE

Have the new 19" wheels tires fixed the vibration?
RJC

karl k

RJC:

Who knows what is behind the headliner? There might be wiring for the COMAND as well as RADIO in addition to the SOS, aspirator temp controls, voice controls, front and rear head lights, lights for vanity mirrors and four retractable handles.

MB corporate office, MB service manager, MB service advisor and more are in the loop on this forth attempt to correct the past wrongs.

I just hope, that I get an "upgrade" as loaner:

My favorite is the $15,000 PT Cruiser!!

I could have bought 5 PTs for the costs of my 2002 CLK55.

mbtech208

You guys crack me up.

techbike

4 tries. I had vibration when I first put them on which scared me, thinking now that it may be the car. I went to the independent facility with the Hunter equipment. The wheel/tire assemblies were off by a bit, 1 tire was out of limits. I got a new tire replacement and the store is reimbursing me for my expenses. Then the tech again did NOT do all of the machine's recommendations like the high/low point matching. According to this guy, "it's usually not a big deal and you wouldn't feel it". Well, we had a long discussion and I had to show printoputs from the Hunter site. So on my 3rd rebalance, he finally got the fronts zeroed out properly. Then I could still feel something on my butt, so back to the shop for a 4th time to redo the rears; again with the high/low point matching. I am learning that the CLK chassis is very sensitive to this and also that the AMG race-tuned suspension coupled with the 19's and wide, ultra low profile tires is making me feel like the princess with the pea under the mattress...
It took a while and a lot of research in balancing but I think I got it right now.:p

RJC

Techbike, Glad to hear they finally got it right!

I too have noticed that the 208's especially 2000+ MY are very sensitive. My 99' was no where as near finiky as my 00 and now my 01. I wonder if they changed bushing densities etc? The factory uses similar balancing/mounting equipment that match mounts/indexes etc. It is also very true that you can have very sophisticated equipment but if the end user either does not use it to its fullest capabilities or does not use it properly the end result is poor.
RJC

karl k

Persistence paid off!!

Delighted to report, that MB service - after 4 tries since last December - repaired/corrected SUCCESSFULLY in a workmanlike manner the sliding sunshade.

I won't repeat all the items replaced, only to mention the entire overhead light gray ceiling panel was replaced, and ALL of the electronics and electrical gizmos in the ceiling work the way they are designed to perform.

Yes, Karl Benz must have been supervising this last attempt to correct past wrongs!

This CLK55 Coupe is the best and most comfortable production car MB built, since he patented the first motorized vehicle in 1886.

Tnx MB, - I know you can do it in 2002.

RJC

Good news I'm glad they finally (after four trys) got it right. Imagine how much $ MBZ would have saved in addition to all your time if they did it right the first time. Now enjoy your car and don't let them touch it unless it's absolutely necessary!

RJC

karl k

Tnx RJC for the encouragement.

Now you are next in line to benefit from your persistance re your defective door.

Get the Service manager involved. You'll be surprised by the quality work MB in Pompano Beach CAN do!

techbike

Karl, I agree with your asessment on the CLK55.
I can feel the bodyshakes on bumpy twisties on my cab inspite of the extra cross-bracing, etc. but I guess that's true of most convertibles. I also found out it's 500+ lbs. heavier due to the motor and mechanism for the top. Otherwise, it IS the best MB I've owned and driven.
My episode with vibration was mentioned yesterday by my MB salesman and that it was brought to his attention by the regional rep; probably due to the questionaire reply card that they staple to every work order/invoice. Needless to say, I wasn't shy about rating their work and sending it in. In true arrogant MB salesman form, however; he said ..."knowing that you're an 'enthusiast', you probably shoud hook up with a performance MB mechanic/shop instead of our dealership service shop..."...and that only someone like me would pick up such a minute problem with tires.
Well, I was there negotiating on a '02 E430SE to replace my ML(lease up in Sept) and upon inspecting the one car they had in stock, it had Goodyear Eagle F1s on them. The scoop in this and other forums have not been good on these tires. Of course I said I would not take this car with those tires on them, and after conferring with the powers that be, they agreed to either rebate the cost of replacement tires of my choice or "...contrary to policy, they would swap wheels/tires of comparable size from another car." He also suggested that I should have the car up on the lift and drive it before taking delivery. Not only that, they agreed to give me the car at dealer invoice, pay remaining lease payments on the ML, and throw in a CD changer and tint windows. Granted this is a 210 and on its way out, I thought that was an excellent accomodation for a "noisy" customer.
I guess those rating cards do more than I thought they did.